Support tomorrow without throwing away today

Microsoft is clear that AppX will replace MSI as the installation technology for applications on Windows 10. But there are still many hundreds of millions of users using older versions of Windows that only support MSI. How do you support your existing customers while adapting to the future?

Get the AppX Extension for the WiX Toolset.

Use your existing source code to create MSI and AppX packages

Implement new features once

Be guided toward success

Read on for details about how the AppX Extension for WiX Toolset can create AppX packages for desktop and server applications.

Windows Store? Using my MSI? Yep, here's how.

The Windows Store makes it easy to sell your application directly to millions of customers running Windows 10. Unfortunately, you had to rewrite your application specifically for the Windows Store. With the Windows 10 Anniversary Desktop Bridge existing desktop applications are now supported. All you need is an AppX package.

Does this mean you have to repeatedly convert your MSI package into an AppX for the Windows Store? Or does this mean you need to duplicate installation logic in AppX for Windows 10 and MSI everywhere else?

It would. Except...

With the FireGiant AppX Extension for the WiX Toolset, you can create AppX packages from the same source code you use to create MSI packages today. All you need is the FireGiant AppX Extension for the WiX Toolset and a couple of lines of code.

<fga:Appx Id="Example" Publisher="CN=Example" Target="desktop" />

Watch the video to see the AppX Extension in action to create an AppX package for 7-Zip.

Nano Server? No MSI? No problem.

To support their modern minimal "born-in-the-cloud" Nano Server, Microsoft created a new installation technology called the Windows Server Applications (WSA) Installer. Nano Server's API surface is so minimal that MSI was not supported so WSA builds on the AppX installation technology introduced in Windows 8.

Does this mean you cannot use your MSI package and must create an AppX from scratch to support Nano Server? Does this also mean you need to duplicate installation logic in AppX for Nano Server and MSI everywhere else?

It would. Except...

With the FireGiant AppX Extension for the WiX Toolset, you can create AppX packages from the same source code you use to create MSI packages today. All you need is the FireGiant AppX Extension for the WiX Toolset and a couple of lines of code.